ARTICLES ABOUT SIDNEY CROSBY BY DATE - PAGE 2

NEW YORK - It was the best season no one talked about. Perhaps because it is expected with a player of his stature and skill, Sidney Crosby posted the NHL's third 100-point season since 2010, and even the most hardcore hockey observers did little more than shrug their shoulders. Free of drama or intrigue, adding to the malaise, Crosby had the scoring race locked up in December. This was Crosby's fifth career 100-point season in 9 years in the league. How impressive was it?

PITTSBURGH - If the Flyers are going to make a Stanley Cup playoff run, they will have to end a puzzling late-season trend: fizzling in the third period. It's puzzling because the Flyers have been outstanding in the third period during most of the season; they have a club-record 11 wins in games in which they trailed in the final period. But in the last five games, they have been outscored, 11-3, in the last 20 minutes. That's the main reason they have fallen out of the battle for second place in the Metropolitan Division, guaranteeing they will start next week's playoffs on the road.

PRAISE FROM around the hockey world has been heaped on Sean Couturier over the past week. Rightfully so, after the Flyers held Sidney Crosby and Jonathan Toews to a combined one assist in three consecutive outings. Couturier had Crosby, the NHL's runaway points leader, so frustrated at one point in Pittsburgh on Sunday afternoon that "Sid the Kid" was willing to throw down the gloves for his first fight in four regular seasons. Far less attention has been paid to Couturier's linemate, Matt Read - who added three goals in the weekend set against the Penguins.

PITTSBURGH - The ending was so Flyers-Penguins. On a play that was very much offside, except in the eyes of the linesman, the Penguins' Sidney Crosby came streaking in and, with about a second left, managed to reach around Flyers defenseman Nicklas Grossmann and bang a backhand off the goal post. Thus was a 4-3 victory preserved for the Flyers, leaving goaltender Steve Mason in a good enough humor to muse on Sid and the puck and the post, saying, "I think that's all I gave him, though.

PITTSBURGH - With the Flyers protecting a one-goal lead in the final frantic seconds Sunday afternoon, goalie Steve Mason tried desperately to scramble back into position as Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby came crashing toward the net and put a shot off the right post. "I think that's all I gave him," Mason cracked after the Flyers escaped with a 4-3 victory at the Consol Energy Center, completing a weekend sweep of the injury-ravaged Penguins. Mason kidded that the post was "part of the equipment.

Unlike most Flyers-Penguins games, Saturday afternoon's matchup was devoid of any drama. The Flyers weren't complaining. They dominated from the opening faceoff and coasted to a 4-0 victory over their archrivals in front of a loud, sellout crowd at the Wells Fargo Center. Matt Read scored two goals, Sean Couturier shut down Sidney Crosby, and Steve Mason collected his fourth shutout of the season as the Flyers remained in fourth place in the Metropolitan Division. "Some games, there's ups and downs," Vinny Lecavalier said after notching his 15th goal, "but I felt we played with the momentum for 60 minutes.

Some of Pittsburgh's best players were missing Saturday afternoon at the Wells Fargo Center, but eight minutes into the first period, it was the Flyers who were shorthanded after defenseman Andrew MacDonald was sent to the penalty box for cross-checking. The Penguins still were "really dangerous," according to Flyers center Sean Couturier, because Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were not among the missing, and they are "two of the best players in the league and the world. " Even though it was early in the game, this was a potential turning point in the first half of a weekend showdown between the two Pennsylvania hockey teams that love to hate each other.

Back in 2012, in a moment of postgame euphoria, then-Flyers coach Peter Laviolette called Claude Giroux the "best player in the world" after the center helped eliminate heavily favored Pittsburgh in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Since then, Laviolette has taken lots of criticism for that statement, especially from those who believe the Penguins' Sidney Crosby is head and shoulders the class of the NHL. Fast-forward to this season. Crosby - whose Penguins visit the Flyers in a Saturday matinee - leads the NHL with 88 points, while Giroux entered Thursday tied for 10th with 65 points.

OUT OF ALL the decisions Craig Berube will be forced to make on the fly this weekend in back-to-back games against the Penguins, perhaps his toughest choice will be one of the few that he actually can plan ahead: his starting goaltenders. Ray Emery, who hasn't dressed since pulling himself from the loss to San Jose on Feb. 27, skated for more than 90 minutes yesterday in practice - adding an interesting wrinkle to Berube's decision. Emery saw most of the work in practice while spare Cal Heeter, the Phantoms goaltender who has served as Steve Mason's backup for the past 2 weeks, largely stood to the side.

THE BEAR has been poked. From the time North American journalists began arriving in Sochi last week, Russia's preparations to host 2,800 athletes and millions of visitors for 98 sporting events have been mocked around the globe. But almost universally, most participants at the Games have lauded the facilities and ease of access. Yet Russians are focused on just one way to measure the true success of the 2014 Winter Olympics: whether its men's hockey team can win gold on home soil in the sport it once dominated.